1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of web based applications located on mobile devices. In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to the field of user interactions with web content via a palm-sized computer system.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the “palmtop” computer system. A palmtop computer system is a mobile computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can therefore be “palm-sized”. Palmtop computers have been known as Personal Digital Assistants (hereinafter referred to as “PDAs”).
Personal Digital Assistants can be used for mobile access to the Internet using a wireless or modem connection. Users can browse and interact with various web sites over the Internet via their PDAs. To compensate for low bandwidth limitation, smaller display areas, limited memory, limited processor speeds associated with PDAs, new technologies help condense the contents of a web page to a format compatible with a PDA. The condensed web content streamlines information by minimizing text and graphics. Pertinent information is retained while extraneous information is deleted.
Web platform applications are located on a PDA and facilitate user interaction with the content servers that maintain particular web sites. A single web platform application on a PDA is supported by a particular web site on the Internet. These web platform applications are designed to interact with and facilitate the transfer of the condensed web content from a particular web site to the PDA. User interface elements integrated into the web platform application help to retrieve and display web content.
Additionally, a PDA can contain and operate many other applications that may run independently of any support application located remotely from the PDA. Further, a PDA may have applications that are supported by or are extensions of applications located remotely from the PDA, such as on a stand-alone computer system. Some typical applications are address book and calendar, where they interact with a remotely located application to import and export the exchange of data.
Web platform applications consist of static content including text, search forms, image files, links to files within the application, etc. By installing a web platform application onto a PDA, users in essence pre-select web sites that are important to the user. A host of installed web applications on a PDA can provide access to specific types of information such as stock quotes, flight schedules, restaurant listings, as well as other pieces of information while connected to the internet.
Unfortunately, users must be actively connected to the Internet when accessing information located on a particular web site. The user necessarily is present at the time of connection with the Internet when requesting information or interacting with a content server. This active monitoring is not an efficient use of a user's time particularly with the low wireless connection bandwidth typically associated with PDAs. The user must wait for the request to be formatted, be transmitted to a content server, the request to be processed, and the condensed web content to be reformatted and delivered back to the PDA.
For example, if a user is interested in the latest news, the user can connect with a news web site through a web platform application resident on a PDA. After navigating through the various links and queries, the desired information is condensed and sent back to the user's PDA. Depending on the size of the file, additional time is needed to download the condensed web content. Further, if the PDA runs out of power at any time during the transaction, the user cannot access the information and must restart the process after re-powering the PDA. Thus, a need exists to provide a more efficient way to using web applications to interact with content servers.
Additionally, web platform applications may become permanent legacies on a user's PDA unless the user chooses to update that particular web platform application. Even if a newer version of a web platform application contains unique and desirable features, many users will not take the time and trouble to update the web platform application. Noting its static nature, web platform applications are designed to last for the useable lifetime of a PDA. Therefore, a web site must have the capability to support newer as well as older versions of their web platform applications in order to maintain customer satisfaction. Thus, a need exists to provide a better way to support web platform applications.
Web platform applications typically are generalized to appeal to a broad cross-section of users. Because of its general nature, a user may need to navigate through a number of pages both within the web platform application located on the user's PDA and possibly on the web site before viewing any desired information. The user through-rate becomes more critical the greater number of pages a user navigates through to retrieve information, Through-rates of as high as fifty percent are estimated such that web sites lose up to fifty percent of viewers at each new page in a navigational sequence. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a better way to retain more viewers of a particular web site.